


Mission: Search

by Yushi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Midwest, Drama, M/M, Romance, extraterrestrial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 08:05:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7676692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yushi/pseuds/Yushi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Byun Baekhyun always wanted to be a cosmologist (namely an astrophysicist) but his traditional father doesn’t allow him to. With his ambition becoming just a dream, he kept a telescope for whenever he wanted to explore the heaven outside him.</p>
<p>When a strange phenomenon happened, he found that his desires to become a cosmologist overwhelmed him and even went against his father.</p>
<p>Not long after frequent arguments with his father, he decided to run away and pursue his dream in his own way and that’s when he met Park Chanyeol–a peculiar man with curious questions who would die for answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mission: Search

Picture the sun rising–its rays landing on the side of a humble household no taller than two storeys–the light slowly creeping up from the base of the house to the window and welcoming itself within the quarters of a room throwing every objects’ shadow on the wall against it.

            And as everything in the room gets illuminated, the time of waking begins… however, the room is empty.

            Byun Baekhyun long awoken before the first ray of the sun struck the sky, its palette of dark blue and black. And so early in the morning, the sounds were just supposed to be crickets fiddling their feet and frogs croaking in an unsynchronized chorus. However, Baekhyun added the nailing of a hammer to the melody in early nature.

            He’s broken quite a sweat repairing the foot of the chicken coop that’s been unfixed for who knows how long (His brother kept on making hollow promises to fix it) and other than the chicken coop, a number of materials needed repairs as well–the ladder leading to the second floor of the barn which stored hay just about everywhere (it was also where Baekhyun spends some of his nights when he just wants to gaze at the stars), the rusty hinge of the barn’s gigantic door and not to mention the rest of the things his brother promised to fix but never did.

            He was delayed of his original chore and he didn’t like it. The minor delay such as the one he’s facing endangered his organized list of chores thus stretching the hours until evening. His job usually lasted until seven PM and the last time he got delayed, he was out working late nine PM, roaming around the cornfield for some critters.

            It wasn’t a good experience for him. Back when he was just a kid, his father used to tell him stories of haunted scarecrows. Said the creepy things just come to life during evening. Of course, he realized when he grew up that that was just to keep them away from the cornfields at night. However the fear was brought with him until adulthood. Call it a phobia perhaps.

            He couldn’t spend a night without gazing at the crucified stuffs of hay from his window, afraid they might just tilt a head towards him with their ominous, sewn smiles. So delayed as he was, he worked fast to catch up with his schedule.

            Clanking the hammer as fast as he could, he lifted it midair as if it weighed nothing at all and bashed it against the nail, sticking the piece of support wood to the damaged foot of the coop. Having an impressed appreciation at his craftsmanship, he admired his work before he proceeded to the broken ladder which missed a few steps.

            The cows were making an awful lot of noise, they were hungry apparently and so were the chickens although chickens, hungry or not, were just annoyingly noisy. The sound of their cries, reminding Baekhyun that they need to be fed threw him out of focus.

            Feed them punctually all these years and feed them out of time once and suddenly all of them go crazy, Baekhyun thought. So dropping the hammer on a pile of hay beside his red toolbox, he went on to feeding the animals, muttering, “Alright, alright I’ll feed ya’ll. Be patient.”

            He might as well just remind his brother of what needed to be fixed. Quite apparently, he already anticipated the answer, “I’ll fix it later,” and he never does. He couldn’t just leave it unfixed; his father is going to rant on to both of them. His brother might have gotten used to the ramblings of their father but Baekhyun never does. He was like his father’s most loyal follower and disobeying or displeasing him meant he’s betraying his own world.

            Exiting the barn, his shadow stretched long up against the door of the barn. The current height of the sun said it was six AM and just about everyone in the household was awake and having breakfast. Not with him though.

            Baekhyun always ate alone. He could join them and he would be most welcome but as he was raised, “Don’t feed the mouth before the labor’s done,” and since his labor begins before the sun rises, he doesn’t eat with the rest of the family whose work is just about to begin.

            “Baekhyun!” Faint. Feminine.

            His mother called, the distance reducing her yell to an echoing whisper.

            “C’mere and eat breakfast first, son!”

            Baekhyun smiled, not that his mother could see, yet he still did and just raised his hand above his head as if to say hello and proceeded to the toolshed which was located just a fence from the barn.

            Almost only he occupied the toolshed since his brother never fixes anything and his father has his own beside the house so Baekhyun improvised and furnished the small shack. Some of his clothes were packed inside a small drawer – just a pair of shirts, alternatively washed after use, cotton clothed gloves, a straw hat and long black boots.

            He prepared himself to enter the cornfield and start observing the corns if they were ripe enough to harvest and at the same time take a timeout from whatever chore he’s about to do in the house. Wearing the gloves, he dressed one hand, closed-opened his palms as if to test the comfort and then the other.

            He stripped from his current shirt and took the baggy one from the drawer. Taking a seat, he put each foot on each black boot.

            “Baekhyun,” the same voice.

            Baekhyun looked at the door which his mother blocked and shot a smile. Standing up, he walked to his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked past her.

            “Are you still upset by last supper?” his mother asked and Baekhyun stopped walking.

            He froze on his spot as if paralyzed by her mother’s question then he turned and smiled at her–a forced one, that is. “I don’t eat breakfast anyway,” Baekhyun said, “So you don’t have to worry about me being upset.”

            From the door of the shack, his mother closed it behind her and walked towards Baekhyun, rubbing his shoulders, “I know you are, son and I wish I could do something for ya’ but it’s your pa’ we’re facin’ here. His word is law.”

            “That’s why I’m not upset,” Baekhyun’s smile faded, “Because his word is law therefore I’m not allowed to be.”

            Overflowing with pity, his mother wanted to said more–convince her son that the family business and tradition isn’t a dead end future. Why, they were wealthier than any family however they stuck to the traditions. And what was the money for if Baekhyun couldn’t even achieve his dream?

            What’s it all for when his father is forcing him to a different education? If he contradicts he’ll be out in the open–a wandering vagabond. His life only had two courses–to become a wealthy farmer and inherit the family business or become a beggar. Both were inevitable however one course could be terminated. By making a choice, the other possibility is kept at bay.

            Still, Baekhyun pictured his life in a separate household from his parents, staring at the stars every night from an observatory and studying the cosmos. That was his dream and that was what he brought up last supper.

            “You wanna go study stars n’ fer what? Fer goddamned nothin’?” his father said. Baekhyun could still remember the exact words, the exact tone and accent his father used. He wanted to protest but he couldn’t. He didn’t dare.

            “Well, pa’, it’s just that I’m good at science and I want to contribute somethin’ to the academe.” He wanted to say but didn’t. If he said those words to his father, he would have gotten the same reply.

            “Fer nothin’. You live ‘ere in Earth n’ studyin’ them stars is useless fer yer tattletales.”

            It was just anticipation yet Baekhyun could already picture the scenario so vividly.

            Toiling through the field, he pondered on the thought for another attempt to change his father’s mind about him becoming a cosmologist.

***

The maze of corn was Baekhyun’s second most favored place right next to the second floor of their barn which he turned into his personal observatory. He managed to hide the telescope he brought with the help of the stacks of hay in rectangular bunches.

From the billions of stars visible in the night sky, it’s absurd to say that Baekhyun has a personal favorite... but in fact, he does have one. From the belt of Orion–the Tres Marias, the star in the middle was Baekhyun’s favorite.

How was it different from other stars? Well truthfully, it wasn’t different. But somehow, it had a special place in Baekhyun’s mind.

In the middle of the field was an area with harvested corn and was also the area where Raggedy Joe (Yes it’s what Baekbeom and Baekhyun named the scarecrow) was stationed.

High up on the stake, Raggedy Joe was tied, hands spread open and head limping to face the ground.

Baekhyun approached with courage, contemplating his self of why every time he sees Raggedy Joe, his heart would beat faster than usual.

“I ain’t afraid of ya’,” Baekhyun spat and kicked Raggedy Joe’s post, a few strands of hay falling from the humanoid sack.

Well, why should he be afraid? Raggedy Joe is all what he is–a rag stuffed with hay and clothed with more rags, completely inanimate and not dangerous.

Baekhyun stared at Raggedy Joe from below. He challenged to stare at those button-eyes and sewn smile which, he noticed, becomes more terrifying every second. But still, he kept on staring until he just forfeited–closing his eyes and ducking his head in fear and defeat.

And then he chuckled, once more looking at Raggedy Joe with a well-played-smile.

The sun was about to set, it stretched Baekhyun’s and Raggedy Joe’s shadow behind them and Baekhyun could almost imagine Raggedy Joe’s shadow making a quick movement. And when darkness comes, it awakens.

So heading back in haste, Baekhyun toiled through the field back to his house.

***

Supper had always been the most pitiful time of Baekhyun’s day. It’s when he always musters his courage to open up a subject that would enlighten his father to allow him of his dream.

He didn’t always try to convince his father to let him study astronomy, alternatively perhaps or even once a week and so far… there was no progress. Bitterly.

“Baekbeom,” his father called.

Baekbeom sat erected, as if a military call proceeded and responded respectively, “Yes, pa’?” he asked.

“I told ya’ this mornin’ to fix up the scarecrow,” his father said, “Look at it, limp like a dead man.”

From their point of view, Raggedy Joe’s silhouette was visible just outside the window. In the distance, side-view, Raggedy Joe appeared to be a crucified man. Baekhyun and Baekbeom grimaced in unison.

“Told ya’ to tie its neck to the stake so it’ll stare ahead. It won’t be scaring them crows when it’s looking like a shy sissy.”

“I’ll do it tomorrow, pa’” Baekbeom retorted grimly.

“Hope you do.” After sipping from a glass of water, their father suddenly turned to Baekhyun, who barely touched his food, “What about you?” he asked.

“What about what?” Baekhyun asked, playing with the mashed potato with his fork.

“You seem like you ain’t hungry. Ain’tcha hungry?”

“Slow is all,” Baekhyun swallowed.

And the conversation ceased.

The rest of supper was met with silence.

Baekhyun headed out to the front porch afterwards to have a view of the night sky. If it would be a good time to be stargazing with his telescope.

It seemed fair. One of the perks of living far from the city–the sky always looked like a canvas painted with the palette of dark purple and splashed with spilled milk. It’s the whole galaxy itself.

The beauty of it is what Baekhyun wants to explore yet cannot because of his father.

He went outside the porch, on the front lawn and stretched his hands to the sky, plotting the dots with his finger and searching for constellations.

On his favorite star, he pointed his finger, as if pressing on the dot and as he stared at it for long seconds, the star appeared to glow brighter.

Odd, Baekhyun thought. He squinted; peering on the star that was getting brighter on each second’s passing until he realized that it was also approaching closer.

Without hesitation, he ran to the barn, jumping over the fence with his head monitoring the location of the cosmic body. Once he reached the barn, it only took him seconds to arrive on the second floor and the moment he did, he dug through the mounts of hay for his telescope.

Setting it outside the barn window, Baekhyun gazed through the eyepiece of the telescope to have a better view of what was approaching. Meteor was the most likely since there wasn’t any news of a comet approaching. But where will it land?

As Baekhyun peered through his telescope, he estimated the coordinates of where the meteor would land. For minutes, he anticipated and at the same time kept track of the approaching rock until it finally made contact with the ground.

Far in the middle of their cornfield, the meteor landed, shaking the ground subtly and alarming crows that fled to the open sky.

“It landed,” Baekhyun whispered to himself, “On our field…” there was more excitement in him than his reaction. The thought of having a meteorite to be displayed inside his room shocked him to silence. He’s a space enthusiast and just like that, he’ll have a space rock.

It would be wise to let the night pass before he locates the meteorite since it would surely be untouchable however Baekhyun’s excitement sent him down the barn with a sickle in hand, plowing through the field.

“Oh, meteorite,” Baekhyun called as if the piece of rock would answer him. “I just want to have a look.”

He arrived in the middle of the field where the meteor landed yet nothing seemed to be there. There was no meteorite or even a crater to prove its landing.

It couldn’t be, Baekhyun thought as he jogged around the corn-less area. He saw it land there, right in front of Raggedy Joe. He even recalled feeling the ground vibrate a little from its impact and seeing smoke rising up in the air. He couldn’t have just imagined it.

Baekhyun knelt on the ground, looking around the area with no damage and trace from the meteor. All he saw was Raggedy Joe…

…staring down at him from a tall stake.

With Raggedy Joe’s position and smile, it’s almost as if he’s saying ‘Do you wanna see a trick?’ and Baekhyun definitely didn’t want to. Nope.

Baekhyun stood up with disappointment, heading back to his house.

Behind him… Raggedy Joe twitched.


End file.
